


That Brown-Eyed Boy

by SpookyJess



Category: The Outsiders (1983), The Outsiders - All Media Types, The Outsiders - S. E. Hinton
Genre: F/M, Falling In Love, Family Drama, Family Issues, Fluff, High School, Protectiveness, Reader-Insert, Romance, Teen Angst, Teen Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-27
Updated: 2019-04-27
Packaged: 2020-02-07 05:17:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,075
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18613912
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpookyJess/pseuds/SpookyJess
Summary: During a quick stroll of the neighborhood, you rush to protect a certain boy that is being harassed by the Soc's. After fighting off a couple of the bullies, you're introduced to one of the youngest members of a nearby greaser gang, Johnny Cade. Perhaps... you'll be more than just acquaintances.





	That Brown-Eyed Boy

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave a comment if you enjoy this story. This is a fan fiction I started long ago, but never had the opportunity to finish. Now that I've found it, I'd like to continue... BUT! I will only continue this story if I have enough readers who truly enjoy it, so please let me know down below if you'd like a second chapter. Thank you~ Enjoy!

Sunbeams caressed your skin as you strolled along the sidewalks of unfamiliar streets. You studied the sceneries closely, comparing them to your hometown. This was Tulsa, Oklahoma: an unfamiliar city that you recently moved to about a week ago. You were from a different state across the grid and the heat was definitely something you’d have to get used to.

You already missed home from the second you laid your hand against the car window as it sped off. The only thing that stayed behind was your heart which rested in that small hometown of yours that you’d give an arm and a leg to return to. But, this was for the better. Your family always struggled and your father finally managed to land a job opportunity with a better income. The next thing you knew, your mother was already signing the registration papers for your new school to attend and unpacking boxes for the kitchen. You were starting from complete scratch and it was nerve-racking, especially since the first day of school was Monday.

Good thing it was merely Saturday evening and you didn’t have to worry at the moment. You decided to use this day to explore what Tulsa had to offer. Your father dropped you off at the shopping center near the movie theater so you could look around and after awhile, you decided to walk through the nearby neighborhoods. It probably wasn’t the best idea to wander around in broken neighborhoods in a city you didn’t know, but curiosity always pushed you to do things. Not only that, but you didn’t inform your father of this extra trip.

You found yourself in a poorly developed neighborhood full of projects. Each tattered house that fell into your line of vision made you wonder. You weren’t one to judge them, of course. Your family and you have struggled before. There were great and bright people that came out of those homes if you looked passed stereotypes. All that came across your mind were questions like: “What kind of people live there?” ‘Why’d they end up here?’ ‘Are they content?’ ‘When did-’

Before you could finish your questioning thought, faint hollering and the sound of car doors slamming shut caught your attention. You jolted and turned your head to look around. It must’ve been from around the block. This was a pretty small neighborhood, after all. The queue of houses were practically squished together.

“Aw, look who it is here!”

“We’ve got ourselves a greaser, fellas!”

“What the hell is going on?” you quietly asked yourself, jogging down the street to closer yourself to the commotion. There was laughter followed by more hollering. It was difficult to make most of it out, but an alarming feeling climbed up your spine and settled in your stomach. 

As you approached the end of the street, your hair bouncing from side to side as you jogged, the shouting turned into shuffling and ruffling and there were loud and impactful sounds. Suddenly, a loud scream rippled throughout the air and caught your breath, “Ponyboy!”

The shriek was followed by pleads of help and as soon as you reached the end of the street, all of those sounds you followed became a visual reality. You stopped in your tracks with your mouth agape, time seemingly slowing down as you tried to process what was happening. Right before your eyes was a group of teenagers, beating and huddling over a smaller teenager who was on the ground. He was covering his head and blocking himself from blows and hits. They clawed his arms away and socked him repeatedly in the face and he let out another shaky scream. That ignited a flame inside of you and you clenched your fists. You didn’t give a shit who they were and what was happening, this was definitely not okay.

“Hey! Stop!” you yelled, quickly approaching them with a speed that only your adrenaline could trigger. You grabbed one of them by their sweaters and shoved them off of the boy and he stumbled backwards. The others pulled away and looked at you with an angry glare before their expressions quickly faded into confusion. A girl?

“What in God’s name do you think your doing?!” you shouted in a fit of rage, your face red with anger as you turned to protect the boy on the ground who was shocked as well. He scrambled to sit as he held shakily held his beaten jaw and torso. He was just as shocked as the wealthier looking kids who towered over you.

Is was quiet for a moment. The boys glanced at each other before they bursted out into laughter, “What am I doing? What are you doing?”

“What, you think this is funny?!” without hesitation, you grabbed the boy in the middle’s collar and pulled him harshly to your shorter level. The strength of your arm definitely surprised the boys. Your family was tough and they never failed to teach you how to protect yourself and others. They’ve done the same their whole lives and they made sure to teach you well. Who knew today would be the day you’d wind up trying it on someone other than your close relative? It sure made you powerful when adrenaline and anger fueled you. Oh, you were fuming. You couldn’t stand to see someone else be tossed and pushed around, verbally or physically. If there was one thing to know about you, it was that you always protected others. You were never a bystander. In fact, fuck all of the bystanders in the world who let another person be belittled and never made any sort of approach.

He was almost speechless. It’s not that he was afraid, he was more confused than anything. It wasn’t everyday a girl would run to rescue in a boy’s fight, especially if there were many of them. But, that’s just a useless stereotype and you were breaking it. You’d be sure to smack some sense into them. Your gender didn’t mean a damn thing and you were about to prove it.

“You better get you and your Ken doll pansies the hell out of here before I knock your teeth in, you hear me?! I’m not playing around!” you finished your sentence by shoving him harshly into the boy to his right, both of them stumbling backwards, tripping over each other, and falling to the dirt. The other boy was stunned, staring at his other two friends who fell. He quickly made a move once he met your harsh gaze. Without another warning, he hopped into the blue mustang, yelling at his friend to ‘get his ass up’ and ‘get going.’

The two wealthier boys on the ground quickly got to their feet and rushed to the mustang nearby. They eyed you every step of the way and your glare didn’t fade until the engine roared and the tires screeched as the car sped off. Once they left, you sighed and turned to look down at the boy was sitting there in the large, vacant lot.

You sat on your knees directly in front of him so that the two of you were sitting across from each other. His expression was full of different sorts of emotions. Frightened, confused, frustrated, lost, startled, dazed.

“You didn’t have to do that,” the boy expressed, swallowing thickly. You couldn’t help but notice his arms were shaking, “A girl like you shouldn’t have come around a place like here.”

Before you could reply, the few streams of tears that quickly fell from his eyelashes caught your attention. They slid down his honey-tan skin, bringing your attention to the fresh cut marked on his upper cheek.

“You’re crying,” you quietly said, reaching over to brush the tears away. His breath hitched and he flinched at the touch of your hand. He shifted away from your fingers and turned his head, wiping the tears with the sleeve of his jean jacket. He hadn’t even realized that he was crying.

“Listen, I don’t want to force you or anything,” you started, putting your hands out defensively, “But, you look pretty beat up. If you don’t mind, I’d like to patch you up.”

“You’ve already done enough, I don’t want you to do anymore, I’m okay,” the boy replied quickly. He seemed defensive about being helped. You didn’t turn it around and get angry at him for it, though. You understood.

You were close to asking him another question before another group of boys, dressed much differently to the ones before, came running towards the two of you. “Johnny, man! We ran all over the hood for you!” yelled one of the tall ones. His stare was cold and his coffee colored eyes matched his hair, which wasn’t gelled back like the rest of the boys’s. Johnny quickly stood and brushed himself off, taking your hand and pulling you up as well. ‘So much can happen in so little time,’ you told yourself in your head as they approached, brushing the dirt from your skirt.

“The next time I see those Socs, man, I’ll knock their fucking head in,” he exclaimed, his expression full of irritation as he observed the fresh marks they made on Johnny. He completely brushed you aside as he spoke to Johnny who kept assuring him that he was fine. ‘A Soc? What’s a Soc?’ You’ve never heard that term in your entire life

Another boy around Johnny’s age walked over, his expression softer, but pissed as well. He had a navy blue hoodie on and his hair was gelled back neatly. He had lighter hair and eyes than the taller boy who was talking to Johnny, “They got no right coming around here and jumpin’ you like that. They’re gonna get it, Johnny, we’ll make sure of it.”

“-Johnny, who’s this girl? I don’t ever see you with girls,” Steve asked, putting a cigarette in between his lips and almost dropping it when Sodapop nudged him in the ribs. Both Ponyboy and Dallas turned to look at you and your face reddened in embarrassment from all of the stares.

Johnny sighed as he ran his hand over his sore jaw line, “She shooed the Socs away. Protected me.”

Steve almost choked on his tobacco and Dallas looked muddled, “She what?”

“I got those boys off of him, they were hitting him. I didn’t think it was right so I shoved them and told them off,” you replied as coolly as possible, but damn you were nervous. Sodapop cracked a smile, knowing by your faultless pronunciation that you weren’t from around here. That was awfully sweet too. Thankfully, Two-Bit wasn’t there to make any inappropriate comments.

“Thanks a lot,” the smaller one of them said, “That really means a lot. Who knew how worse he could’ve been if you hadn’t helped,” a smile formed on his face. You nodded in reply, your heart pounding with nervousness. Then it hit you. How long had it been? Your dad was supposed to pick you up at the parking lot of the shopping center and you were out of distance. The sky was already full of orange and pink hues, there was no way in hell you’d be there in time. Your dad was probably back at home and fuming, worried as hell that you weren’t there to be picked up. Who knew how long he waited.

Your stricken expression caught Soda’s attention and he spoke him, his eyebrows knitted with concern, “You good? You look freaked.”

You shook your head, “No, uh, I’m supposed to be back at the shopping center. My dad was supposed to pick me up awhile ago…”

Dallas took a long drag of his own cigarette before tossing it on the dirt and stepping on it, “We’ll take ya’ home then. You’ve just got to follow us back to Pony’s house to get the car.”

“Wait- what? Really?” That caught you by surprise and you glanced at the tall male before Johnny spoke up, his hands in both of his jean pockets.

“Yeah, it’s the least we could do,” he said, finally meeting your gaze. You swallowed as soon as your eyes locked with his. No wonder he didn’t look at you often. He had such emotion written in his irises. You wondered so deeply what it meant. Eyes never lie. You were determined to find exactly what was beneath the surface.


End file.
